COMMENT OF THE DAY: BUILDING AROUND TREES “. . . If the new construction were built around the tree branches, that could be used as a real selling point for a nice home. But construction is very hard on trees — Directly across the street is a development of new homes, and the property owner and architect specifically worked very hard to build around the huge tree on that lot and protect it during construction. It appeared that they had succeeded. But take a look at it today . . . the tree trunk is tall and fat . . . but there are only a few pom-pom sized clusters of leaves on the tree. It takes a long time for a tree to die, and damage from construction may show up years later. . . .” [Julie Young, commenting on Big Oak Tree in Little East Montrose Park Branches Out]
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The root system is what really matters. I was laying out a Hike and Bike trail in San Antonio. The H&B trail was going to be 4 feet wide and six inches deep. I didn’t think it was really going to impact anything.Instead,(San Antonio Arborist said) I had to stay 1 foot away for each inch in diameter of the tree(I wouldn’t have been able to put my trail within two lots of that tree). Zigging and Zagging through a forest. Drove me crazy and made me want to go burn the forest down over night.
I had to stay 1 foot away for each inch in diameter of the tree
This would seem to be an overbroad measurement. If you were weaving in and out of live oaks, maybe so. But if we’re talking pine trees, you could probably run within a foot of a 12″ diameter pine and not seriously disturb the root system (since its more dependent on the taproot). But I can imagine if the arborist had to provide one guideline without looking at the specific path, he would be live oak conservative.
There were different sets of specifications for different types of trees. 1 foot for one inch was the worst, and held for a few of the area species. It was a long time ago so I don’t remember the specific species.
Well it seems more reasonable then. Preserving good trees does enhance the trail.
Maybe a little extreme, but yeah a great idea. Unless you’re the guy who has to try to lay it out five miles through a forest. Drove me crazy.
by about half way through I wanted to burn the damn forest down. Especially since the city or my company was trying to be cheap and didn’t give me a full survey(or a good survey not sure which).